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Jackie Robinson enters the MLB
This was the first time a black man had joined the MLB. This opened up the world of baseball to the African American population. -
Emmett Till is murdered
Emmett Louis Till was a 14-year-old African American kid who was abducted and lynched in Mississippi in 1955. After being accused of offending a white woman, Carolyn Bryant, in her family's grocery store. -
Rosa Parks Arrest
Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man even though she was near the front of the bus and was arrested. This started the rise of boycotts in the nation and showed how such a little act can have a big impact. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycotts occurred in Montgomery, Alabama during the Civil Rights movement after the arrest of Rosa Parks on December 1, 1955. Many African Americans in the U.S. almost fully stopped using the bus station, and it caused them to desegregate the bus system. -
Little Rock Nine Intervention
The Little Rock Nine were a group of nine African American students enrolled in Little Rock Central High School in 1957. Their enrollment was followed by the Little Rock Crisis, in which the students were initially prevented from entering the racially segregated school by Orval Faubus, the Governor of Arkansas. -
George Wallace’s “Stand in the Schoolhouse Door”
The stand in the schoolhouse door was a symbolic protest by Alabama governor George Wallace against integration of Alabama public universities. He blocked two Black students from registering for classes before he was commanded aside by the Alabama National Guard. -
Integration of Ole Miss Riots
On September 30, 1962, riots erupted on the campus of the University of Mississippi in Oxford where locals, students, and committed segregationists had gathered to protest the enrollment of James Meredith, a black Air Force veteran attempting to integrate the all-white school. -
Medgar Evers Shooting
Medgar Evers was shot in the back by a sniper hiding 150 feet away in a honeysuckle thicket. Byron De La Beckwith fired a single bullet, dropped the rifle, and ran. Evers stumbled inside and collapsed. Only 38-years-old, he died on the way to the hospital from internal injuries and blood loss. -
16th Street Baptist Church Bombing
Just before 11 o'clock on September 15, 1963, instead of rising to begin prayers, the church was knocked to the ground. As a bomb exploded under the steps of the church, they found safety under the pews and shielded each other from falling debris. with many being injured and 4 children sadly losing their lives. -
Freedom Summer
During the summer of 1964, hundreds of college students flooded Mississippi. The students came from different backgrounds, colleges, and Civil Rights organizations. Despite these differences, they had one goal, to increase voter registration among African Americans in Mississippi. -
Malcolm X is murdered
On February 21, 1965, Malcolm X, a religious and civil rights leader, was assassinated during a speech at the Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan. Malcolm X was just 39 years old and left behind his wife, Betty Shabazz, and six young daughters—including twins born after his death. -
The Selma Marches / Bloody Sunday
The Selma to Montgomery marches were three protest marches, held in 1965, along the 54-mile highway from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital of Montgomery. -
Black Panther Party is formed
The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense (BPP) was founded in October 1966 in Oakland, California by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, who met at Merritt College in Oakland. -
Loving v. Virginia Supreme Court ruling
This ruling was a landmark civil rights decision of the U.S. Supreme Court that ruled that laws banning interracial marriage violate the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. -
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is assassinated
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated by James Earl Ray on his motel balcony due to him being a black Civil Rights leader. This signaled the end of the Civil Rights movement and put the nation in a whirlwind.